1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent usage environments of an image forming apparatus such as a multi function peripheral (MFP), communication with the image forming apparatus is not always closed in a single office or a single country due to outsourcing of the business, business cooperation among countries, and so forth.
In business cooperation among countries, due to a time difference and so forth, a facsimile or email is sometimes transmitted to an image forming apparatus arranged in an office where there are no office persons in the midnight. This is due to the reason that a receiving process corresponding to a facsimile or an email transmission and printing process is performed as long as the image forming apparatus is started. However, an office person may not firstly come to the office in the next day, and therefore, if the transmitted data is of a confidential document, there is danger that important information is leaked to an outsider such as a dust man. Thus, a security problem may arise.
Therefore, in an ordinary manner, an image forming apparatus performing user authority management can perform “output prohibition” control to prohibit performing (outputting) in a certain time period, when a user sets the prohibition time period such as “outputting is prohibited from XX:XX to XX:XX”.
This output prohibition control can prohibit outputting such as printing, facsimile transmission, and email transmission in a predetermined time period such as PM 9:00 to AM 9:00 every day. Consequently, in the image forming apparatus arranged in an office where there are no office persons in the midnight, outputting is definitely prohibited during the time when there is not an office person, and therefore, the image forming apparatus is prevented from information leakage.
Further, an image forming apparatus can temporarily release the output prohibition control and perform a “temporal release” for printing, even under the output prohibition control in the set time period,
In general, a user who performs the temporal release is limited to a system administrator who a special authority is assigned to. Therefore, the system administrator can perform the temporal release of the output prohibition control after authentication with a password, an authentication number or the like inputted to an operation panel.
A facsimile device itself is equipped with a security monitoring function to systemize security monitoring at low cost and performs facsimile transmission of a security message which indicates unusualness on security to a predetermined destination (hereinafter, this manner is referred as Technique #1).
The device of Technique #1 includes a timer start unit which switches on/off a security mode based on this detection means at preset times, and also includes a remote operation start unit which starts this detection means by a remote operation regardless of the start time of the timer start unit.
Further, in a controlling method of accessing a computer, other than a registered user name and a password information, a status release password for each user has been registered in a user information registration file, and if a usage restricting status flag indicates a usage prohibition status, accessing a computer is permitted only when a status release password inputted with a registered user name is matched with the status release password registered in the user information registration file and both of the registered user name and a password information are matched with the registered user name and the password information registered in the user information registration file (hereinafter, this manner is referred as Technique #2).
In Technique #2, even if the usage restriction status flag of the registered user name registered in the computer indicates a usage prohibition status, accessing the computer is permitted without lowering a security level of the computer system and without an operation to change the usage restriction status flag to a usage permission status, and a proper user's job is prevented from a trouble due to an improper user's operation.
Furthermore, according to a user request, a copy machine prohibits an interruption to printing based on a printing request from outside, and prevents the trouble that the process of the printing request is missed because the user forgets a release operation for the interruption prohibition (hereinafter, this manner is referred as Technique #3).
In Technique #3, according to a user request, a copy machine prohibits an interruption to printing based on a printing request from outside, and prevents the trouble that the process of the printing request is missed because the user forgets a release operation for the interruption prohibition.
However, in Techniques #1 to #3, if a password of a system administrator or the like is leaked by any chance, the danger arises that the temporal release of the output prohibition control is performed without an instruction of a proper system administrator. The system administrator hardly detects such an unintended temporal release, and therefore, it is not possible to completely prevent the information leakage. Therefore, an image forming apparatus with a higher security level is desired.